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Ksenia Solo is a Latvian-Canadian actress. She was born in Riga, Latvia in to an artistic family. She is a recipient of many prestigious Canadian awards, including 3 Gemini Awards and a nominee of the first ever Canadian Screen Awards. Ksenia was the youngest actor in Canadian television history to win two consecutive Gemini Awards.

Solo is a highly versatile actress that comes from a classical ballet background. She is best known for playing the ambitious 'Veronica', rival to Natalie Portman's 'Nina' in the 5-time Oscar nominated film Black Swan, manipulative and disturbed 'Holly' opposite Dominic Monaghan in the psychological thriller Pet, and young and innocent 'Lucy' opposite Maria Bello in In Search of Fellini.

Solo's ability to transform has also earned her critical acclaim for her roles on television including fan favorite 'Kenzi' in the fantasy-noir Syfy hit Lost Girl, real life socialite and wife of America's most infamous traitor 'Peggy Shippen' alongside Jamie Bell in AMC's historical drama TURN: Washington's Spies and Cosima's romantic love interest 'Shay' opposite Tatiana Maslany in BBC's Orphan Black.

No stranger to the comic book world, Ksenia played Dodge in the highly anticipated FOX/DreamWorks comic book adaptation of Locke & Key, which was executive produced by Steven Spielberg, Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, and directed by Mark Romanek. Her other work includes starring on CW's Life Unexpected alongside Brittany Robertson, Shiri Appleby and Austin Butler and playing Stephen Colbert's daughter in the The Ron Howard produced pilot The Untitled Ken Finkleman project, to name a few.

Solo's most recent indie feature, Tulipani, Love, Honour and a Bicycle, directed by Oscar winner Mike Van Diem, received a standing ovation at its world premiere at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival. Ksenia had to learn Italian for her role in the film.

In 2018 Solo was offered the role of Susie Miller in History Channels Project Blue Book, produced by Academy Award Winner Robert Zumeckis. The show premiered on January 8th, 2019 and became a break out hit as the most watched show on cable television.

Solo recently wrapped production on the feature film Raptus, slated for release in 2025.

Gavin McHugh, the youngest of five kids, was adopted from Riga, Latvia, at age two and a half. In 2015, the family moved from Atlanta to Los Angeles to pursue opportunities in the acting industry for his older siblings, while Gavin, just starting kindergarten, was fighting to overcome many of the physical limitations caused by his cerebral palsy and adapting to new physical therapists and school life. After tagging along in the transporting of his siblings to a few auditions, he asked for his own audition. Luckily for him--and completely unexpectedly to the rest of the family--opportunities came flooding in, and Gavin has been blessed to be working at a time when inclusivity has become common. Some of his work--which to the delight of his siblings has also led to work for the rest of the family--has included national commercials for Adventist Health, Lincoln Financial, Honda, Target, Walmart, and Tommy Hilfiger; an interview for KTLA; photo shoots for covers of Family Fun Magazine and Los Angeles Magazine; and PR and advertisements for Shane's Inspiration playgrounds, The Mighty Underdogs hip-hop group, A Walk on Water surf therapy, and Inspired by Drive products for special-needs families. In his free time, Gavin loves playing with his siblings--especially at Shane's Inspiration's playgrounds, swimming, surfing, playing at the beach, singing, and reading books, but his favorite thing in the world is "going to set" in order to act and make new friends. Gavin loves his character on "9-1-1" so much that he asks to be called "Christopher" "all the time--not just on set."

His siblings are Flynn McHugh, Logan McHugh, Shea McHugh, and Lia McHugh.

Elya Baskin is a Soviet Latvia-born American actor, best-known for his work on Spider-Man 2 (2004), The Name of the Rose (1986) and Spider-Man 3 (2007). He was born on August 11, 1950 in Riga, USSR [now Latvia] as Elya Zalmanovich Baskin to Zalman and Frieda Baskin, both of Russian Jewish descent. He attended and is a graduate of Moscow's prestigious Theatre and Variety Arts College and won a Festival of Young Actors Award at the Moscow Comedy Theatre; Baskin was virtually assured of a successful career in the Soviet Union. About his choice of profession in the former USSR he has said: "In Russia, being an actor when it was still the Soviet Union was one of the most prestigious professions. It was like being a doctor here. You had to graduate from one of very few theatre schools, which were all four-year colleges. Without the degree, nobody would hire you. We worked very hard because we wanted to get through the four years and get the diploma, but after you graduate and go to the theatre, the actors don't work like actors work here. That's what fascinated me more than anything else here, how professional people were, how hard they worked, and how much harder it was to get work. In Russia we were always taught that we had the best theatre schools, but when I came here and started to work, I saw how wrong we were. You really have to be the best to get the part here."

Then he built a formidable reputation on the European stage. Baskin immigrated to the United States in 1976 when pre-perestroika emigration rules were relaxed in 1976 and he came to Hollywood, although he spoke no English. About the change from stage to screen work, he said: "In Moscow, theatre was my passion, my love, and I did very little television and film. Once I came here, I thought that because of the language barrier -I didn't know that you don't loop the films like we do in Europe- I'll try to pursue TV and films. For some reason I lost interest in theatre. Film work became so much more fascinating, the whole building of the character, no continuity, the whole camera aspect. Those are the things that really fascinated me. The language was the biggest challenge. Instead of concentrating on the development of the character, you're thinking about your mouth, about putting your tongue in the right position so people can understand you. I've worked for 20 years, and I will never be able to do a role in English like I would do it in my native tongue, and I know it. Of course, with the years it becomes easier, and more often than not I'm cast as a character with an accent."

Baskin fit the bill in Hollywood for ethnic character portrayals, especially characters with a Slavic background and an amiable demeanor. About his being stereotyped, he said: "I feel that, of course, I'm stereotyped. But what can you do? I can't imagine that some director would cast me as a sheriff from Alabama. But you can do exactly what you said: With every character, they're different people, and it's up to you what you do with them. This is your challenge. It doesn't matter how limited your piece of the pie that you can use, you always try to do the best that you can. How can I be upset for not being cast as a Southern sheriff? That's what you call acting; you try to utilize whatever you can to be a different person every time."

He achieved his international breakthrough, however, at the hands of Hollywood giant Paul Mazursky, who cast him opposite Robin Williams as the clownish Russian circus performer Anatoly in the masterful serio-comedy, Moscow on the Hudson (1984) where the actor's birdlike arm-flapping became one of the film's most poignant and memorable images. An additional collaboration with Mazursky followed, the 1989 smash Enemies: A Love Story; in the meantime, Baskin began to rack up a litany of roles in additional A-list projects, including 2010: The Year We Make Contact (1984), Vice Versa (1988), and Love Affair (1994). The Pickle (1993) re-teamed Baskin and Mazursky for a third occasion; unfortunately, it failed to match the critical or commercial success of its predecessors.

Baskin remained popular through the end of the following decade, with a memorable comedic turn as Vladimir on the sitcom Mad About You, and prominent roles in films such as Spider-Man 3 and The Dukes (both 2007). He has continued playing guest roles on TV in such series as The West Wing, Alias, The Closer, Criminal Minds, Heroes, and Cold Case.

Baskin emigrated to the United States in 1976 and became a United States citizen on April 1, 1985. He and his wife Marina have been married since 1995. They have one child, a daughter, Michelle.

Gints Zilbalodis is a Latvian filmmaker and animator best known for Away (2019) which won the Contrechamp Award at the Annecy Film Festival. He focuses on 3D animation with comprehensive camera movements and sprawling environments. His latest animated feature Flow (2024) has been selected for the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival and the Main Competition at Annecy Film Festival.

Cynthia Lynn was born on 2 April 1937 in Riga, Latvia. She was an actress, known for Hogan's Heroes (1965), Mission: Impossible (1966) and The Six Million Dollar Man (1974). She died on 10 March 2014 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

The son of an affluent architect, Eisenstein attended the Institute of Civil Engineering in Petrograd as a young man. With the fall of the tsar in 1917, he worked as an engineer for the Red Army. In the following years, Eisenstein joined up with the Moscow Proletkult Theater as a set designer and then director. The Proletkult's director, Vsevolod Meyerhold, became a big influence on Eisenstein, introducing him to the concept of biomechanics, or conditioned spontaneity. Eisenstein furthered Meyerhold's theory with his own "montage of attractions"--a sequence of pictures whose total emotion effect is greater than the sum of its parts. He later theorized that this style of editing worked in a similar fashion to Marx's dialectic. Though Eisenstein wanted to make films for the common man, his intense use of symbolism and metaphor in what he called "intellectual montage" sometimes lost his audience. Though he made only seven films in his career, he and his theoretical writings demonstrated how film could move beyond its nineteenth-century predecessor--Victorian theatre-- to create abstract concepts with concrete images.

Katrina Blaua was born in February 1997 in Riga, Latvia. She is an actress, known for Nelugtie Viesi (2023), Fear No One (2021) and Mutiny (2024). She has been married to Marcis Zebergs since 25 September 2024.

Rosa von Praunheim was born on 25 November 1942 in Riga, Ostland [now Latvia]. He is a director and writer, known for Anita: Dances of Vice (1987), Horror Vacui (1984) and Tough Love (2015). He was previously married to Carla Egerer.

Of Jewish origins, Wolf Ruvinskis Manevics was born in 1921 in Riga (Latvia), but fearing persecution during World War II his family relocated to Argentina, where they lived in extreme poverty. In spite of his deprived childhood, Wolf excelled in sports and became interested in wrestling. When he was 19 years old he started his professional career and toured South America, the United States and Mexico, where he decided to stay. Although he stayed on the ring until the 1960s - in matches with top Mexican wrestlers, as El Santo, Black Shadow, El Médico Asesino and Lobo Negro - Wolf was also a tango singer and a magician, and in 1949 he was called to act on the stage and in films. One of his biggest successes was La bestia magnífica (1952), the first in a series of movies centered on Neutron, a character he created. His popularity was firmly established with his role as the handsome rural boy who becomes the victim of a mad scientist in the cult film tt0044416, he was a regular performer in all kinds of movies until the 1990's and was nominated for an Ariel as Best Supporting Actor for Juego limpio (1995). He was also a businessman, and married three times: to Beatriz Perez, to dancer Armida Herrera, and to actress Lilia Michel until his death in 1999.

Bill Rebane was born on 8 February 1937 in Riga, Latvia. He is a director and producer, known for Twister's Revenge! (1988), The Capture of Bigfoot (1979) and The Alpha Incident (1978). He was previously married to Barbara J. Rebane.

Victor Janson was born on 25 September 1884 in Riga, Russian Empire [now Latvia]. He was an actor and director, known for The Oyster Princess (1919), Die Dame in Schwarz (1920) and The Doll (1919). He died on 29 June 1960 in West Berlin, West Germany.

Ruslan Fradkin was born on 21 July 1992 in Latvia. Ruslan is a director and writer, known for Rating Race (2024), Tea Time (2023) and The Birds Didn't Fly (2024). Ruslan has been married to Nika Stepanova since 20 April 2020. They have one child.

Maxim Busel is a prominent young Latvian stage and film actor. Best known for his solo performance as Tim Tuni in The Legend of the Pianist. 1900. For this role, was nominated for Best Actor 2018 at "The Night of the Artist" award, the highest recognition in Latvian theatre and also a contender for Best Performance 2018. From 2015 til 2018, four years in a row, won the People's choice award as Best Young Actor at the Mikhail Chekhov Riga Russian Theater awards ceremony. A versatile actor, singer, musician and dancer, Maxim has leading roles at the Mikhail Chekhov Riga Russian Theatre in various genres. He is also involved in numerous projects as a performer, composer, songwriter. Fluent in English, Russian (native) and Latvian and, as Max says about his French, 'un petite peu'. Born in Riga, Latvia. Early on, Maxim pursued a musical education as a choir conductor and pianist, having graduated with honors was granted the opportunity to study at the Rimsky Korsakov Conservatory in St. Petersburg, Russia. Maxim's passion for acting prevailed and he left school a year early to begin his theatrical studies at the Latvian Academy of Culture. He was accepted into the exclusive Russian Theater course, and enrolled at once in the 2nd year of studies, while simultaneously completing his secondary school education. He graduated the Latvian Academy of Culture with a Bachelor of Arts in Stage and Film Acting in 2014. In 2015 Maxim Busel was nominated for the highest cinema award in Latvia, the "Big Kristaps" as Actor of the Year for the leading role "Maxim" in the short film Dance of Death directed by Vlad Kovalev. In 2019 he was lead in Ukrainian TV-series Zoya as Anton, the Prime Minister's rich son, directed by Pavel Tupik (RU/UA). In 2018-2019 played a bit role as the Young Jean Weiner (French actor, composer and pianist) in the American feature film Paris Song by Jeff Vespa (USA) Also in 2018 he had a leading role as Nikolay Pandchenko, a famous singer, rock star in the Ukrainian TV film Chicken by Roman Brovko (UA). Maxim was also a composer of the soundtrack for this project. Leading role of 'Maxim' in the short film On One Breath (2018-2019) based on Jean Cocteau's play The Ghost of Marseille directed by Maria de Valukhoff (RU). Supporting role of Mercutio in the full-length drama Romeo n' Juliet by Maris Martinsons (LV/LT) in 2011. Maxim currently resides in Riga and is open to new, unique projects in Europe and enjoys working abroad.

Viktoria Modesta was born on 25 February 1988 in Daugavpils, Latvia, USSR. She is an actress and composer, known for Bionic Showgirl (2019), Killjoys (2015) and A Midsummer Night's Dream (2016).

Harijs Liepins was born on 15 March 1927 in Riga, Latvia. He was an actor, known for Mirovoy paren (1972), Hullumeelsus (1969) and Redundant (1976). He died on 3 August 1998 in Riga, Latvia.

Maris Martinsons is an internationally awarded film director, screenwriter, editor and producer. After graduating from Latvia Conservatoires in 1989 as a "drama theatre director" he worked together with Latvian musicians as an independent director/producer for music videos. His first, "This Is My Car" by the band Jumprava, was the first independent music video in Latvian music/audiovisual history and it won the best music video award in 1989/1990.

Martinsons originally worked in the TV field, creating TV shows, music videos and TV series. He has created over 10 original TV series, mostly as director and screenwriter and each of these productions brought him a step closer to creating a feature film.

During 2008 - 2010 Martinsons' first feature film "Loss" traveled all round the world participating in numerous film festivals and official screenings. It has been the first feature film from Baltic winning A class film festival awards - Best Director and Best Music in Shanghai IFF (2008). The jury was headed by director Wong Kar Wai. "Loss" represented Lithuania in the Academy Awards as the Best Foreign Language film.

After the international premiere of "Loss", Martinsons met wonderful Japanese actress Kaori Momoi, who after watching "Loss" expressed her willingness to participate in some of the Martinsons' films. He immediately started to write a new story "Amaya" specially devoted for Momoi, who made this inspiration. The new film project began - script wrote in different countries, ending a location in Hong Kong.

Next feature films have been created as very low-budget films and the reason hasn't been only lack of money, but mainly - to have bigger freedom and independent feeling on the filming location. Thus was created "Christmas. Uncensored" (2013), shot in Lithuania, "Oki - in the middle of the ocean" (2014), shot in Los Angeles together with Kaori Momoi, and currently in the post-production process - "Romeo n' Juliet" (2015).

Natalia Ryumina is a Latvian born British actress. She grew up in a multilingual family, speaking Russian, Latvian, Ukrainian, English and German. After graduating from Jazep Medin Riga School of Music, where she had trained as a classical singer, she moved to London to study at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts and work with the world famous American acting coach Jack Waltzer. During her studies she also worked as a fashion model for various designers, including Vivienne Westwood, and was the lead singer in a British heavy metal band Into The Woods. Her first television appearance was in a BBC drama Holby City, followed by a number of other productions, including Waterloo Road and Moving On. Her film work includes feature films Their Finest by Lone Scherfig, and most recently, Anton by Oscar nominated Zaza Urushadze and The Inheritance by Chad Barager and Kevin Speckmaier.

The multi-talented comedian, pianist, singer and home-spun poet Heinz Erhardt was born in Riga, the son of a successful bandmaster. After his parents split up, he had a somewhat unsettled upbringing, spent, alternately, with his mother in St. Petersburg, with his grandparents in Riga and with his father in Hannover. Forced to change school some fifteen times, he eventually completed his education -- though failing to matriculate -- and commenced musical studies at the Leipzig Conservatory under the distinguished concert pianist and educator Professor Robert Teichmüller. He then had a stint as a piano salesman, but soon put his talents to better use 'tickling the ivories' and performing as a cabaret artist and stand-up comic in cafés and on radio in Danzig. He made his proper stage debut at the Riga Schauspielhaus in 1932 in a play, for which he had also composed the music. Then followed several years of financial hardship supporting his new family, a wife and four children. However, in 1938 he was invited by the actor and emcee Willi Schaeffers to join the popular satirical revue Kabarett der Komiker in Berlin. Erhardt quickly established a singular reputation as humorist, as well as persisting with his musical vocation. Though a non-swimmer, he was conscripted to serve as a pianist with the orchestra of the German Navy during the Second World War.

After the war, he resumed work on the stage in Hamburg and had a huge national hit as presenter of a weekly radio series ("So was Dummes") which spotlighted his forte for spontaneous wit, pun poetry and double entendre. Eventually, the screen beckoned, initially finding him cast in minor supporting parts or as a singing pianist. As his radio fame grew, the bespectacled, cherubic, corpulent Erhardt became an instant cinematic favorite. His starring debut in Der müde Theodor (1957) was a box-office blockbuster, followed with a back-to-back hit in Widower with 5 Daughters (1957). A kind of querulous equivalent to Hollywood's S.Z. Sakall, Erhardt often lampooned bourgeois values and philistine preoccupations. Thus, even his more irritating characters, like Paul Perlacher in Der Haustyrann (1959), were never dislikeable.

In order to escape his typecasting as a comedian, Erhardt founded his own television production company in 1961, though the venture lasted a mere two years.The public seemed more than reluctant to accept Erhardt in any genre other than comedy. Following this disappointment, he returned to the small screen, inevitably in his familiar comic guises, including a recurring role as good-hearted but hapless taxation officer Willi Winzig. He also proceeded to publish several best-selling compilations of his comic poetry and profited from numerous record sales of his live performances. Sadly, in December 1971, Erhardt suffered a paralysing stroke and lost the facility of speech, which effectively put an end to his career. He died eight years later in Hamburg at the age of seventy, six months after receiving Germany's highest award, the Bundesverdienstkreuz (Federal Cross of Merit).

Ilze Taurins was born on 29 August 1933 in Riga, Latvia. She is an actress, known for Burke's Law (1963), The Wild Wild West (1965) and The Gallant Men (1962).

Juris Zagars was born on 26 January 1961 in Riga, Latvia. He is an actor, known for Troubled Minds (2021), Bezvests Pazudusas (2020) and In from the Cold (2022).

Andrzej Lapicki was born on 11 November 1924 in Riga, Latvia. He was an actor and director, known for Lalka (1968), Zbrodnia lorda Artura Savile'a (1968) and Television Theater (1953). He was married to Kamila Mscichowska and Zofia Chrzaszczewska. He died on 21 July 2012 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland.

Regina Razuma was born on 22 September 1951 in Riga, Latvian SSR, USSR [now Latvia]. She was an actress, known for Rugtais vins (2007), Amatieris (2008) and Bande (1986). She was married to Uldi Razumu. She died on 14 May 2023 in Latvia.

Russian pop singer-songwriter, fashion designer and actor, best known for his high pitched voice. Raised in Odessa, Ukraine, Vitas already had his high voice since a young age. He made his debut in 2000 with a performance of his signature song "Opera #2." The music video and live performances of the song became a widespread hit on the Internet. In 2002 he became the youngest solo artist to perform at the Kremlin Palace, and by 2006 he gained much popularity in China. He was only foreign performer to be at Beijing Olympics in 2008.

Michael Idov was born on 9 July 1976 in Riga, Latvian SSR, USSR [now Latvia]. He is a writer and composer, known for The Humorist (2019), Leto (2018) and Deutschland 89 (2020).

Inga Alsina was born on 18 September 1979 in Cesis, Latvian SSR, USSR [now Latvia]. She is an actress, known for Izlaiduma gads (2014), The Good Neighbor (2022) and Pa celam aizejot (2001).